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History · Hickory Valley

42% of Hickory Valley’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the James Monroe Avent House. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1880.

1on the National Register
42%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Chase Via · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about Hickory Valley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hickory Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 252 in 1980; 78 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Hickory Valley’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hickory Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hickory Valley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Hickory Valley, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 252

Peaked at 252 in 1980; 78 people lived here in 2020.

9 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hickory Valley’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Hickory Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hickory Valley.

Read it all →

Hickory Valley's origin dates back to the blending of three independent pioneer settlements in the area that were founded by three men: William Shinault in 1820, Drury Wood in 1826 and William Barnett in 1827. The Shinault Settlement formed before Hardeman County was organized and featured the first school in Hardeman County, which operated as early as 1823. The main buildings of the settlement were located one mile southwest of the present town and a former Indian trail and the historical Boliver-LaGrange Road are still visible in some places south of Hickory Valley. In 1826 Drury Wood migrated to the area and founded the Hickory Valley settlement; a cemetery for the Wood family is still located in the area and marks the original site of the settlement. William Barnett would move into the area in 1827 and would establish Mt. Comfort Church and a campground about two miles west of the p…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hickory Valley, 1900 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900BuiltJames Monroe Avent House is built
  3. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 252
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Hickory Valley on the map, 1951 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hickory Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hickory Valley on the 1951 USGS mapHickory Valley on the 1980 USGS map1951Hickory Valley sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hickory Valley.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hickory Valley

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
James Monroe Avent House
James Monroe Avent House, built 1900
Buildings
All 1 listings
James Monroe Avent HouseBuilding · listed 2001

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Questions about Hickory Valley’s history

What is on the National Register in Hickory Valley?

One place: the James Monroe Avent House (listed 2001).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.